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Jan 27, 2017

My personal digital portfolio

Around two weeks ago I did some personal reflection (and
some borderline-whining) about finding
an appropriate writing medium in which I could house all of my personally
created content. It was pointed out to me by a concerned professional
acquaintance, with appropriate bluntness to express the point, that I needed a
portfolio. Not only would this catch-all solve the problem at hand if done
well, it would also demonstrate both creative and technical acumen.

Since that day, I’ve been building my personal digital
portfolio at ShawnSchaller.com (I’ve
never felt more conceited than when deciding on this name). It’s a simple
website hosted by Google’s Blogger tool. My experience in web design is
limited, but with ambition and the powerful aid of the internet, I’ve had
success ignoring Blogger’s patronizingly limited design interface and directly
editing the HTML code.

It’s a work-in-progress. I seem to have the most trouble
getting individual items to move (and stay) exactly where I want them to.
Sometimes I’ll spend several minutes finding and writing code for a miniscule
detail. I’ll feel extreme gratification when it actually works, but that
feeling is often followed by annoyance when I realize how little an impact the
change had overall. I still feel that the site’s design gives off an overly-simplistic,
amateur design, too.

However, I’m ultimately very proud of where it stands
today. I feel as though I can clearly explain the technical side of what I’ve
done and how, and even logically why I did it a certain way. More importantly,
it’s proving to be an excellent home for my creative ventures, as hoped.

It’s been a tremendous learning experience, and I can
easily envision myself proudly demonstrating my work in both personal and
professional settings. If you’re in any field related to content-creation, I
highly recommend you start your own digital portfolio as well (unless you
already have, which is likely, given that I’m apparently a little ways
behind-the-times).